Asia Cup 2025, Final: Kuldeep Yadav surpasses Lasith Malinga in all-time list with four-for against Pakistan

Asia Cup 2025 Final: Kuldeep Yadav (Source: Getty Images)

Kuldeep Yadavovertook former Sri Lankan legend Lasith Malinga in the all-time wicket-taker list to go top of the table. He created history with a stellar show with the ball in the Asia Cup 2025 final against Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday, September 28.

The left-arm wrist-spinner concluded his Asia Cup 2025 campaign with 17 wickets in seven matches. Speaking of his overall wicket tally, he has 36 wickets in 18 matches (considering both T20I and ODI Asia Cup formats). Malinga now sits second with 33 in three fewer games.

List of highest wicket-takers in Asia Cup history (both T20I and ODI modes combined):

Player	Matches	Wickets
Kuldeep Yadav	18	36
Lasith Malinga	15	33
Muttiah Muralitharan	24	30
Ravindra Jadeja	26	29
Shakib Al Hasan	25	28

Speaking of Kuldeep's performance, three of his four wickets came in his fourth and final over. The 30-year-old conceded only one run in the 17th over of the innings. Kuldeep was the main architect behind Pakistan getting bundled out for 146 in 19.1 overs.

Indiahad opted to field first after winning the toss. Kuldeep contributed in the field too, as he latched onto a catch at backward point off the bowling of Varun Chakravarthy to get rid of Fakhar Zaman for a 35-ball 46-run knock. Other than Fakhar, Sahibzada Farhan contributed well with the bat for Pakistan, scoring 57 off 38 before falling to Chakravarthy.

None of the other Pakistan batters barring Saim Ayub (14 off 11) were able to register double digits. Kuldeep was well supported by Chakravarthy (2/30 in 4 overs) and Axar Patel (2/26 in 4 overs) from the spin-bowling department. Jasprit Bumrah snapped up a couple of wickets as well.

For the unversed, Kuldeep earned the Player of the Match award for his 3/18 against the Green Shirts during the league phase match on September 14 at the same venue.